Csim: I understand infantry modelling will be highly realistic. What are the goals in this area?

Sandra: In order to get the character models as accurate as possible throughout the game, I bought some of the uniforms and other clothing and we photographed them on different members of the team. All of the photos were then scanned in and texture mapped onto the different character models. We did our research on the look of all the Rangers in each environment as well as the enemies. And to add to the realistic quality of the characters, we had a Ranger and a Special Forces guy do the motion capture for all the characters. After all, nobody can do the moves better than a well trained soldier. The goal once again is realism. We want to hear from the Rangers themselves that our game is cool.

Csim: What happens when you are wounded? What happens when you are killed?

Sandra: When you are wounded, you will fall to one knee but still be able to continue playing. When you are killed, you will automatically switch to your buddy or the next Ranger team. Since there are 6 Rangers in each environment, you essentially get 6 lives. If you are the last Ranger and you are killed, you lose the mission and see the repercussions, i.e. the SCUD's take off to kill the South Koreans.

The enemy will be in certain positions either ready for the player or not depending on the defcon level. If the player is heard early on, then the enemy will be more aware and sometimes be hiding from the player on rooftops or behind buildings. Enemy awareness will also depend on visual recognition of the player.

Csim: Tell us about the AI in Spec Ops. How will the enemy react and respond? Will there be a "panic" model, morale factors, "hide" and "avoidance" AI?

Sandra: The enemy will react and respond depending on the defcon level as described earlier. This is something we've been working on recently. The enemy will be in certain positions either ready for the player or not depending on the defcon level. If the player is heard early on, then the enemy will be more aware and sometimes be hiding from the player on rooftops or behind buildings. Enemy awareness will also depend on visual recognition of the player as well as the sound of an explosion within a certain distance.

The enemy can also contact their buddies in another area of the game so that they are ready for you as well. Once you start blowing things up and shooting everything in site, all hell breaks loose. For instance, if the player decides to blow up a vehicle as soon as he enters the game, then the enemy will be aware of infiltration right away. On the other hand, if the player decides to be a little more stealthy, he will be able to get through the environment with minimum casualties. Enemies are also intelligent enough to run away from grenades and will sometimes run away from the player.

Csim: Will any air action be modelled? If so, how will it integrate to the sim and affect tactics?

Sandra: In some cases enemy helicopters fly above and land periodically in order to drop off more enemies. In others, aircraft can be taxiing on the ground or getting ready to take off and you will need to stop them. If you do not stop them, then they can attack you from above. A lot of this will be done with sound and bullets hitting the ground around you.

Air support for the player is included in some missions in order to completely destroy certain areas with high explosives from above. This is basically a reward scenario for getting to the end of the mission.

Csim: Tell us about the mission and campaign structure. How many missions will the player have to choose from?

Sandra: Each environment has it's own set of mission objectives depending on the situation. We have a raid and destroy mission, a reprisal attack, a hostage rescue, a counter terrorist attack, and a seek and destroy mission.

There are 5 separate environments that the player will be able to choose from. Depending on the level of difficulty chosen, the player will have access to certain environments and not to others. This way, there is a reward for getting through the first few environments but at the same time gives the player some options as to what environment to play.

Csim: Will there be training exercises? How are these modelled?

Sandra: Yes. This will be used to get the player acquainted with the weapons and equipment he has at his disposal. This will be a small area in which we will have dummy targets similar to the ones used in real training exercises. The player will need to decide quickly whether the target is lethal or not. There will also be objects to practice blowing up.

Csim: How many campaigns will exist? Are they dynamically modelled?

Sandra: Five separate environments with 3 objectives within each. We are using vertex lighting to get the overall feel for each type of environment. Most are night missions but we will have dynamic lighting to create shadows and some colored lighting affects throughout so the player never feels like he's running around in the dark. The player also has night vision goggles at his disposal, which increases the overall viewing distance.

Csim: Where will the campaigns be set? What kind of geography will we see?

Sandra: The campaigns are set in Russia, North Korea, Columbia, Mexico, and Afghanistan.The different geography types include: forest, snow covered, jungle, desert, and semi-urban.

Csim: What kind of briefing/debriefing will we see?

Sandra: The mission briefing will include a short movie of still images with teletype text describingthe current situation and how the Rangers will be inserted and extracted. If the player craves a more detailed mission scenario, there will be full operations orders for each level available within the menu. In this way, we have accommodated for both the player that simply wants to start playing immediately, as well as the sim player who is more interested in finding out as much as possible about the missions before starting.

The debriefing will include an extraction sequence as well as a score based on % of mission completion, enemies destroyed, Ranger casualties, etc.

Csim: What will be the "feel" of the sim, and what will be the primary factors contributing to "suspension of disbelief?"

Sandra: We want the player to "feel" as if he is a real Army Ranger who can be the hero and save the day. The realistic sounds, vertex lighting, motion captured moves, photo source textures, and Ranger buddy and enemy AI will all add to the realism of the game.

We are still trying to decide on either a 2 player cooperative mode or a multi-player combat arena. Either way, we could use a subset of the current mission campaigns or we could create an environment that will foster a better networked environment. Either one would support LANs and serial cable, though only the combat arena would support the Internet.

Csim: Will we see a mission editor in the release or as a later add on?

Sandra: This is a possibility for future Spec Ops titles, but most likely not for this one.

Csim: Sound modelling is a big number at Zombie. What can we expect in terms of sound detailing?

Sandra: Sound is very important in game design because it can create a suspension of disbelief all on it's own. Instead of the usual cheesy music in most games, we've decided to take a different route and focus our sound efforts on the ambient levels of detail as well as the special effects.

Our in house sound designer is awesome. I can simply convey to him the type of environment that we are going for and he can create sounds that fit perfectly.

As far as multi-player support, we are going to get the single player game out the door first and then provide an add on a few months later that includes multi-player support. People are dying for this in our game so we definitely want to give it to the player but at the same time we don't want to have to hold off further on shipping the title. We plan to have multiplayer for LAN, Serial Cable, Modem, and the Internet.

Csim: Will LAN and Internet play be available in campaign mode or only in single missions?

Sandra: We are still trying to decide on either a 2 player cooperative mode or a multi-player combat arena. Either way, we could use a subset of the current mission campaigns or we could create an environment that will foster a better networked environment. Either one would support LANs and serial cable, though only the combat arena would support the Internet.

Csim: What about hardware support? Will there be surround sound, support for force feedback, VR headsets?

Sandra: Hardware support will include 3D accelerator boards, the Sidewinder Game Pad, and possibly force feedback although this doesn't work as well with a character based game. We are still looking into surround sound. As far as the VR headsets go, these are pretty easy to support although not at the top of our list since they really didn't hit very big in the last few years and most of the manufacturer's have gone out of business.

Csim: I understand that the screenshots up now are from 3dfx hardware. What about D3d support and other chipsets?

Sandra: We are working concurrently on the D3d support and are thinking about directly supporting the new Power VR, Rendition 2, and NVIDEA chip sets. We will be looking into this support in the next few months.

Csim: What resolutions will be supported? Is this a WIN95 product?

Sandra: Resolutions will be 640x480x 64K for hardware acceleration and 320x240x16bit for software only. Yes, it is a lovely Win95 product.

Csim: What do you think is the coolest feature of Spec Ops?

Sandra: That's a hard one. I like the ability to switch between characters and the fact that the AI is smart enough to hide from the player if they know he is there. Other than that, the realistic outdoor environments are like none you have ever seen before in a real-time game and the character motion is very impressive.

Csim: What else will be bundled with the sim? Maps? Will the manual be the spiral bound type?

Sandra: We will give the player a map of each of the environments. The manual won't be very lengthy because the majority of information will be available in the game. We are thinking about putting in a subset of the Ranger Handbook to give the hard core sim player an idea of what it is like to be a real Army Ranger.

Csim: Great idea... What will be the recommended system configuration?

Sandra: Probably about a P133 w/ Win95, 16MB Ram, 20MB hard drive space, 4x CD-Rom, 16 bit audio.

Csim: Finally, when can we hope to see it!

Sandra: First Quarter of '98.

Csim: Thanks, and best of luck on what looks llike a fantastic entry into the military simulations market!

Sandra: Thanks Len. We are all pretty happy where the game is at right now and only look forward to being able to play it once the rest of the features are added. It will be sure to attract the attention of both the third person shooter market as well as the sim market.

Sandra B. Smith
Producer, Special Ops
Zombie VR Entertainment

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